Honestly, I Think We're All Getting Stupider

Isn’t the vaccine supposed to be his dad’s great accomplishment? https://t.co/hmej3Igk48

— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) February 16, 2022

My freedom to spread a contagious, deadly disease is very important to me! It's in the Constitution! I have a right to contagion and to be contagious!

So his 9-year old daughter is receiving palliative care in Winnipeg and he needs to be vaccinated to see her...but he won't get vaccinated and is instead at the protest. https://t.co/ivswEykMd6

— David Pugliese (@davidpugliese) February 16, 2022

My inclination is to say this guy deserves to lose his parental rights.

A 9 year old?  Months?  That's equivalent to years in the sense of time a 9 year old has.  And this guy could wind up in jail for his stupidity, so months more.  This man shouldn't be allowed to own a dog.

Americans' satisfaction with "the way things are going in U.S." is near a 40-year low.

Americans' satisfaction with "the way things are going in personal life" is near a 40-year high.https://t.co/IPp3paZBSJ pic.twitter.com/rCpWvBHVIu

— Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) February 16, 2022

I'm not a fan of "blame the media" arguments, but: I blame the media. Depression sells; if it bleeds, it leads; good news doesn't sell newspapers.

That or we fall back on that old American standby:  "Congress sucks, but my Congresscritter is o-kay!"  Because:

US retail sales boomed in January as shops more than regained ground lost in an unexpected December slump, despite high inflation, according to government data released Wednesday.

See? The economy sux, but I'm busy shopping!

The $590mm question https://t.co/tj881oyLRo

— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) February 16, 2022

That's not the salvation you're looking for:

“This explodes the national security risk by a factor of 10, because now he's going to be desperate for new loans. Legitimate banks are not going to touch him. So it expands the universe of shady characters who could offer him loans in return for favors that might include disclosing U.S. national security secrets,” said Joseph Cirincione, a fellow at a think-tank, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

“Whether it is the Saudis, Russians, narcoterrorists—anybody with access to hundreds of millions would be in the running for Donald Trump’s new loan officer,” Cirincione said. “That is why you don’t give security clearance to people who are financially compromised.”

Lots of people with money who are far less scrupulous than banks out there.  Don't sleep on the rumors Trump was involved in, or just the dupe of, Russian money-laundering. 

WARNING!  THE FOLLOWING IS SATIRE!  But in keeping with the title of this post, I thought it appropriate to end here.  Might as well punch up as punch down.

All right-thinking people now believe that masks should be banned in schools. But is it time to ban them in operating rooms too?

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) February 16, 2022

A Pandemic of Podcasts

The number of podcasts has grown at an annualized rate of 800% since the pandemic began in March 2020. Some observers believe this is unsustainable.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) February 16, 2022